Output Options
Output Options control what happens to your documents after they are filled and before you download them. Set them once on a Set of Forms and they apply to every generation run.
They are most useful for the things people do by hand today: locking a completed form so it can't be altered, combining a client's forms into one filing packet, or protecting a file that contains personal data before it's emailed.
Open the panel
- Select your Set of Forms and choose Edit Set.
- Click Output Options (next to Naming Options).
The panel only shows options that apply to the files your set actually contains — see What each file type supports.
The options
Flatten filled fields
Turns the filled values into fixed page content. Recipients can read and print the document normally, but they cannot change what you filled in.
Use it for anything you're submitting or sending as final: a completed W-9, a signed-off form, a statement going to a client.
Leave it off if the recipient is meant to complete the rest of the form themselves.
Combine into one PDF
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| Keep documents separate | Default. One file per document, as before. |
| One combined PDF per record | Each record's documents are merged into a single PDF — a filing packet per client, employee or matter. |
| One combined PDF for the whole run | Everything becomes one PDF. |
You can also set the combined file name (defaults to Merged).
Tip: turn on Flatten as well when combining. Without it, form fields from several documents end up in one file and their names have to be made unique, which makes the merged form awkward to work with.
Watermark
Adds diagonal text across every page — DRAFT, CLIENT COPY, CONFIDENTIAL.
A watermark changes the appearance of the document. Don't add one to an official form you're submitting to an agency unless you know it's acceptable.
Password protection
Protects each record's document with a password taken from a column in your parent table, so every record gets its own password — for example the last four digits of an account number, or a reference the recipient already knows.
Choose the column from the dropdown. Records where that column is empty are left unprotected.
ExForms never stores a password. The value is read from your workbook at generation time and used immediately. Nobody can recover the password from ExForms afterwards, so make sure the recipient can work out what it is.
PDF/A archival format
Converts output to PDF/A-3b, the ISO standard for long-term archiving — useful for records retention and some legal or public-sector filing requirements.
PDF/A and password protection cannot be combined. The standard forbids encryption, so turning one on disables the other. Expect noticeably larger files: PDF/A embeds every font the document uses.
Include the data XML
Saves the exact XML used to fill each document alongside it, with the same name:
Invoice_001.pdf
Invoice_001.xml
Three reasons to turn it on:
- An audit trail. The XML records precisely what went into that document, so you can show what was submitted without re-deriving it from the workbook later.
- Troubleshooting. If a field comes out empty or in the wrong place, the XML shows whether the value reached the document at all — which separates a mapping problem from a template problem.
- The recipient wants data, not paper. Some agencies and systems accept an XML upload. This is the filled data in the form's own structure.
The XML is a side-car file — the document itself is unchanged. It's counted as part of the same generated document, so turning this on does not increase your usage.
Per-file overrides
Below the main options is a Per-file overrides section listing each PDF and HTML document in the set. Use it when one document needs to differ from the rest:
| Override | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Flatten — Use set setting / Always / Never | One document should stay editable while the rest are locked — a questionnaire the recipient fills in alongside completed forms. |
| Watermark | Only one document should be marked, e.g. an internal CLIENT COPY alongside clean originals. |
| Include in the combined PDF | A document should stay separate from the packet — a cover letter, or a form that goes to a different recipient. |
Leave these alone unless a document genuinely needs to differ. Anything set to Use set setting follows the options above.
What each file type supports
| File type | Output options |
|---|---|
| All of them | |
| HTML | All of them — options apply to the rendered PDF |
| Word | None yet |
| PowerPoint | None yet |
Word and PowerPoint documents are always delivered as their own files and cannot be included in a combined PDF. The panel says so where relevant rather than leaving you guessing.
Things worth knowing
- Nothing is on by default. A set you've never opened this panel for generates exactly as it always has.
- Options apply to the whole set, every time you send data — there's no per-run choice.
- Image outputs are unaffected. A file uploaded as an image and left as image output stays an
image. Switch its Output dropdown to
PDFin Edit Set if you want it to take part. - Your usage count doesn't change when you combine. Merging five documents into one packet still counts as five documents, because that's what was generated.
Troubleshooting
PDF/A is greyed out
Password protection is on. The two can't be combined — clear the password column first.
The combined PDF is missing a document
Either that file's Include in the combined PDF override is unticked, or it's a Word, PowerPoint or image output, which can't be merged.
The password doesn't open the file
Check the column you selected actually holds a value for that record — records with a blank value are delivered unprotected. Remember the password is the cell value, exactly as it appears.
Nothing seems to have changed
Confirm you clicked Save, and that the file you're checking is a PDF or HTML document rather than Word or PowerPoint.